Germany "Bans" Microsoft Xbox 360 and Windows 7

Motorola court case causes OTT headlines until the appeal comes in

Motorola took Microsoft to court in Germany over a patent issue. This has lead a German court to 'ban' the sale of Xboxes and Windows 7. Well, not quite...

The BBC's report is that, "The sales ban covers the Xbox 360 games console, Windows 7 system software, Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player. It follows a ruling that Microsoft had infringed two patents necessary to offer H.264 video coding and playback."

Reuters points out that, "Microsoft said that the ruling did not mean that its products would be taken off retailers' shelves because a U.S. district court in Seattle has granted Microsoft a preliminary injunction against Motorola to prevent the phone maker from enforcing any German court order."

What's that again?

"Microsoft said that the ruling did not mean that its products would be taken off retailers' shelves because a U.S. district court in Seattle has granted Microsoft a preliminary injunction against Motorola to prevent the phone maker from enforcing any German court order."

A US court has told a company that it can forget about a European court's injunction? Well, yes. Microsoft points out that, "Motorola is prohibited from acting on today's decision, and our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola's broken promise."

Also, "following complaints by Microsoft and Apple the EU competition authorities have opened two investigations into whether Motorola has been over-charging for the use of its patents in their rival products."